


Madoka

by aparticularbandit



Series: Character Sketches [4]
Category: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-30
Updated: 2018-10-30
Packaged: 2019-08-10 21:21:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16462553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aparticularbandit/pseuds/aparticularbandit





	Madoka

Lights.  It might have been night, but all her attention was on the lights in the sky.  Normal people called them stars, but on a night when the city lost its power and they were the only thing illuminating the dark streets – they were her lights.  Well, that and the moon, but she hadn’t really noticed that yet.  She could see the moon on pretty much any night, and while she _did_ love the moon, tonight her eyes were enraptured with the cosmic display above her.  She’d never seen the stars before.

They were beautiful.

When she looked up into what was usually a highlighted glowing abyss, there was now a smattering of glitter sparkling across the night sky.  She couldn’t stop herself from constantly looking up and just staring at them on her walk home.  She loved them.  She wanted to see more of them.  Every night.  Some people might think that seeing the stars so consistently would make them plain and take away their beauty, but she doubted it.  She still loved her best friend, Sayaka, even though they saw each other practically daily, so she was sure if she saw the stars nightly they wouldn’t lose their attraction to her.

About halfway home from her friend’s house, Madoka sat down on a bench, only able to watch the sky.  She knew she should be getting home soon – Momma was probably worried – but she couldn’t help herself.  As soon as the city’s power came back, they would be gone.  The loss of power was the reason she was returning home in the first place; although she was probably safer at Sayaka’s house, with the home phones out of service….  She’d felt it’d be better to go home.  She’d traveled this way hundreds of times and been perfectly safe.  Tonight would be no different.

Except that it was.  Perhaps she should have listened to Sayaka and spent the night there.  But then she wouldn’t have gotten to know the stars.

Madoka gazed at the twinkling lights above her, feasting on them.  There were constellations – she knew that they existed, but she was unsure what they were.  No, that’s not true.  She was a better student than that, so she knew what they were in theory – the Zodiac, of course, were related to the stars.  But she didn’t know what the constellations looked like.  Not in the sky.  That set over there – the one that looked almost like a straight line – was probably part of something, but she didn’t know what.  Still, they were fascinating.  If she tried hard enough, she could connect the dots and make her own patterns.  She sighed in contentment, not even noticing the little white animal slowly appearing next to her on the bench.  Without seeing it, she decided to get up and continue to head home.  Momma would be worried if she didn’t show up soon.  When she began to leave, the white animal followed along behind.

The days were finally lengthening into summer.  Madoka was excited for the new season, but a little bit sad.  Summer reminded her how useless she was.  During school, she would often see her friends.  She was kept busy and occupied.  But in the summer, without anything else to do, she found that she would often just sit around the house.  She’d go out when invited, but when she was by herself…nothing.  It wasn’t that there wasn’t anything she wanted to do, but that…there were others so much better at it.  She wasn’t yet sure what she was best at, what she should be doing with her life.  She felt passionless.  She hated it.

A warm breeze blew through the air, knocking little bits of trash across the street, a crumpled pink paper landing at Madoka’s feet.  She closed her eyes before bending down to pick it up – recycle or throw away, leave litter for another day! – and when she opened them, she noticed it, the white animal standing right behind her.  Her bright eyes widened in astonishment.

“Hi!  I’m Kyubey!”  The animal smiled and nodded his cute little head, the long white tufts coming out of his catlike ears bobbing slightly.  The rose-haired girl resisted the urge to reach forward and tug on them.  Something about the animal reverted her into a little girl again – almost like Tatsuya, her brother.  His lips had yet to move, but she didn’t seem to notice that.  The voice speaking directly into her mind was much too pleasant.  “I want you to form a contract with me and become a magical girl!”

 _What?_   Madoka stated at the little white creature with the cute, smiling face, its eyes closed in excitement.  She wasn’t sure what to say.  “Yes!”  Could she just say yes to that?  What would Momma say?  Did it even matter?  _A magical girl_!  She could do something – anything – be… _useful_.  Her eyebrows knit together in confusion.  Surely, as a magical girl, she would be required to fight something.  But that was okay!  However, she expected something else was involved, something she was missing, otherwise the little creature – Kyubey – would have already turned her into one.  She opened her mouth to ask—

“Good!  All you have to do is wish for something!” the creature added, reopening its – his? – eyes.  “Anything you want, and I will fulfill it!  But only one thing.”  It gave her an almost stern look, his eyes wide and focused only on her.  “And in return—”

Madoka didn’t listen to the rest of the sentence, too oblivious and absorbed in the idea of becoming a magical girl.  He was probably explaining what it was she was going to be fighting, so she supposed she should be paying attention.  But with the realization that there were things to fight in the world, her focus switched from the fight to what she would really be doing – protecting something.  Whatever the horrible things were, they would eventually come after her – or Momma, Papa, or Tatsuya.  As a magical girl, she could make sure that nothing bad would happen to them.  That was worth just about anything.  _Anything._

So…what would she wish?

She could wish to see the stars every night for the rest of her life…but that just seemed selfish.  With all of the bad things going on in the world, she couldn’t wish for such a little thing as that.  She could just wait until another time to see them.  Madoka nodded to herself with a smile.  It wasn’t that she couldn’t think of anything she wanted; there were just so many other people suffering, and that was much more pressing.  She had a good life.  She wanted to think of something to help them more.  Like finding a cure for cancer.  Isn’t that what Momma would have her do?

The main problem with the power being out throughout the city was the loss of streetlamps.  That semi-truck probably didn’t even see the black cat trying to cross the road.  But Madoka did.  She saw it happen in horrifying reality – how the semi hit the cat, shattered its bones, ripped it straight in half.  If the stars were beautiful, then this destruction took their beauty, turned it on its head, and multiplied it.  What’s worse was that she knew what would happen next.  She’d seen carcasses along the side of the road, the vultures and flies hovering around their broken bodies, the green stench that rose from them in most cartoons, although she knew from experience that it didn’t in real life.

Not this cat.  Not now.  Not when she could do something to save it.

“Save her!” Madoka shouted quickly, barely looking at Kyubey.  She pointed at the cat before turning to the fluffy white animal sitting next to her.  “I wish to save that cat that just got hit by the semi!”

It was a quick, painless thing, her wish.  Considering it and all the possibilities one moment and gone the next.  But the thing of it was, even as a bright, shining pink gem came floating out of her chest, she didn’t regret it.  Maybe there were other things she could have wished for, but…she could save people as a magical girl.  She might find healing purposes with her magic, and if not—that was a wish someone else could make.  If she’d let that cat get hit, no one else would have saved her.  No, no, this was right.

And now she’d have magic!  And the ability to be something more than she once was!

This was going to be the best thing ever!


End file.
